Just Be Friends
by BrokenAria
Summary: AU. Upon entering high school for her senior year, after three years of home schooling, Korra instantly falls for one of her new teachers, Iroh II. Not knowing much about how to act around guys... or people in general she enlists the help of the hugely popular though emotionally distant Mako. He agrees, but he has one rule: she is never allowed to fall for him.


**Author's Note:** Hello readers! Thank you for clicking on my story, you're awesome! :D

So, welcome to my new story. I decided to write this because I've never written an AU story before and I thought I'd give it a try. I also wanted to do something a little more light-hearted than my other LOK story... because if you've read it you'd know that it's a little dark... so here we are.

Hope that you like it :3

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**Lesson One:**

_~1. Not What, but How_**  
**

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_Round and round..._

Children's laughter danced in the cool night air. Everything else was dark, but the lights of the carousel lit up the night like a million twirling fireflies.

_Round and round..._

"Mom!" a girl began to shout as she passed the crowd of parents. All of the adults were faceless - nonexistent in the eyes of the child. "I'm scared!" the girl cried, finding her voice lost in a sea of other noises.

_Round and round..._

All around the girl the other children were found by their parents and taken away to enjoy other attractions; smiles bright on their faces. Quickly the girl found herself to be alone, still clinging tightly to the golden rod that kept the ceramic animal she rode moving.

Tears dripped from her chin and her heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly. With every fiber of her being she just wished for the carousel to stop, but it wouldn't. No matter how much she willed it to cease it just kept spinning...

_Round and round..._

~/\~

"Korra!" a voice exclaimed, waking the teen from her slumber. She sprang upright to find the face of her mother, Senna, leaning over from the driver's seat. "We're already at the school," she pouted. "You slept the whole way here."

"Sorry, mom," Korra apologized as she wiped the drool from her chin. "I was too excited to sleep last night." The excuse sounded a little lame to her, but it was true. The night before her mind had been so filled with expectations of the upcoming year that she could barely contain herself.

"Well it _is_ your very first day of school so I guess it's okay," Senna giggled and cupped the cheek of her daughter. "I know that we've kept you from public school for quite some time, but your father and I agreed that it would be best if you spent your last year as a normal student."

Korra leaned into the hand of her mother, a taut smile on her lips. "Thank you, you don't know how much this means to me."

Senna only grinned wider then withdrew her hand. "You should probably get going. You don't want to be late on your first day of school." Korra nodded and quickly got out of the car, bookbag in hand. As her mother drove away the two exchanged quick waves, then Korra set off for the school.

At first glance she found herself craning her neck to get a full view of the vast buildings before her. So this was the famous Republic High School? In her youth she had crossed it many times, but now on the other side of the gate it felt different - more tangible.

Pulling out her school map she found that all of her classes had been circled and numbered for her to find them easier. Korra had never been good with directions, and although this helped the problem was how long it took to get from class to class. The prospect of it made her feel exhausted already. Grudgingly she set out for her first class, half dreading it, half loving every second of it.

This was what it was like to be a normal student!

Smiling stupidly to herself she could barely contain her happiness. It seeped from every pore. So maybe that's why when she began to pass people in the hallways they laughed at her.

At first Korra had put it off, telling herself that they had to be laughing at something else. Certainly they couldn't be laughing at her - they didn't even know her. Despite that though she didn't let it get her down. Surely her classmates meant no harm, and even if they did nothing would be able to bring her mood down today, especially not over-critical teenagers.

Taking another second to check her map, she kept walking to save time. Of course just the opposite happened. As she continued her pace forward she abruptly collided with something and was propelled backwards. Luckily, her butt caught her fall.

"Hey!" a voice growled just a few feet away. "Watch where you're going." Quickly she collected her scattered supplies and stood up - ready to argue. The instant she saw who the voice belonged to however she lost her breath.

Standing in front of her was a guy that was as cool as ice yet as hot as an open flame. He stood a little over six foot, with jet black hair and molten amber eyes. Sure, he wore the same uniform as all of the other boys, but he wore it best. The black slacks were snug and loose in all the right places and his blazer hugged his muscles without over-accentuating them. Beneath the blazer the collar of his dress shirt popped over the top of his vest. The main thing she noticed about him though was the red scarf hanging loosely from his neck.

Nervously Korra shook her head, and refocused on the situation at hand. "I didn't mean to run into you," she retorted, maybe just a little too harshly.

"I don't care whether you meant to or not," he hissed icily. Taking a moment to calm himself he exhaled, then picked up what had been knocked out of his hands as well. "It's not that big of a deal I guess."

Korra smiled, rocking back on her heels sheepishly. "You sure?"

Rolling his eyes in irritation he let out a sigh. "Well yeah, you could at least apologize though."

"Oh... uhhhh sorry," she apologized quickly, not really used to being reproachful with strangers. Looking at him expectantly, she wasn't sure what he would do. A moment passed where nothing happened then he started laughing mockingly. Korra grimaced, a fierce blush rising to her cheeks. "What?" she demanded.

"I figured out who you are," he teased once his fit of laughter was over. "You're the new transfer student. The one that's been home schooled till now, right?"

Bitterly she nodded, unsure of where this was going. "How could you tell?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"I don't mean this to be rude, but you look like someone that hasn't been exposed to high school yet," he said, a shadow of a grin still on his lips.

"What do you mean?" she asked, wondering just what she had done wrong.

"Well," he said frankly. "It's your clothes."

"My clothes?" she repeated, confused. Everyone had uniforms after all, what did her clothes have to do with anything?

"It's not about what you wear, it's about how you wear it," he responded with disinterest, as if it were one of the most obvious things in the world. "Think back to some girls you saw in the hallway. How long were their skirts?"

"Not very," Korra admitted, remembering that everyone wore them on the upper thigh. Her skirt however was below her knees. "Isn't there a rule about that?"

The guy snorted. "Not really. Girls have been rolling up their skirts since middle school," he said, sounding somewhat disgusted. "This school is a little unforgiving though. If you want to fit in around here, you should look the part of a normal student."

"Oh uhhhh, thank you," she responded sincerely. Maybe there was more to being a high school student than she thought.

"You're welco-" he trailed off, interrupted by the late bell. "Crap. Well, see you later, new girl."

"Wait," she stopped him as he turned to leave. "What's your name?"

A smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Mako." Then he waved and sped off to class. Rather than heading to class as well Korra raced to the bathroom to put her new knowledge to practice.

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**Author's Note:** So, I don't know if I really liked how this turned out. I'm not really used to writing AU stories so I don't know what I did wrong if anything. If I did let me know, okay?

Anyway, if you liked this story be sure to let me know. I don't know if I want to continue this or not so if you think I should please let me know. I hope that you liked it so far though! See you again next chapter!(if there is one)


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